Presidency University has announced that students who graduated last year can get their degree certificates from the office of the controller of examinations or an online platform, a declaration that seems to ignore an appeal that the certificates be awarded at a convocation.
A group of students has been holding a sit-in on the campus over the past 17 days to press for a series of demands, including resumption of the convocation.
The university has last held convocation in September 2018.
A notice issued by the university’s controller of examination says hard copies of degree certificates for the graduating students will be issued from the controller’s office from February 15.
The notice also says: “Degree certificates of students who have passed during the Academic Year 2022, have been presented through NAD (National Academic Depository) Digilocker platform.”
In 2018, the convocation was forced out of the campus and was held at Nandan following a sustained students’ protest over delay in repairing Eden Hindu Hostel, where male students of the university stay.
Since then the authorities have not held a convocation, triggering the latest round of protests.
Calls and text messages from this newspaper to Presidency’s vice-chancellor, Anuradha Lohia, failed to elicit any response.
“Jadavpur University and other institutions have resumed convocation. What is preventing Presidency from holding the event? Every graduating student looks forward to receiving his or her degree certificate on this ceremonious occasion,” said Anandarupa Dhar, general secretary of the SFI unit on the campus.
Jadavpur University held its convocation on December 24 last year, after a two-year gap that was necessitated by the Covid pandemic.
Colleges run by the Ramakrishna Mission and St Xavier’s College, too, held convocation in the past few months.